Bouncing ball game apparatus



Oct. 21, 1952 G. H. FoRsYTH BOUNCING BALL GAME APPARATUS 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 Filed Sept. 19, 1945 v/ 6 f im .ry a wam/f if 7 V0 .A Nf/ 5H@ .5E

s my E 5 Oct. 2l, 1952 G. H. FoRsYTH 2,614,839

BoUNcING BALL GAME APPARATUS Filed sept. 19, 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Oct. 21, 1952 JUNITED vs'rATEs PATENT oUNcINd BALL GAME 'APPARATUS l George H. Forsyth; Evanstonflll. v Applicatiqn september 19,1945rseria1N0. 617,329

-iThis invention relates to apparatus for games -of thetype played with a bat or racket and a ball, and more particularly togames of this gen- Veral nature intended to be played indoors.

4Afurther object of the invention is4 the provision `of a game apparatus having a court and an abutment wall so constructed that'there is fsuclr a relation between 4the height and `inclination of theabutment wall and the length of the `court that a ball struck against the `abutment Other objects` and `features of` this invention will appear from the following description and appended `claims and the accompanying drawings in which,

consists of two-panels converging toward the center, andwith upright forwardly diverging side `walls connected therewith;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View ina side ele- -Yvation showing `the basic relationship of the T3 Claims. (Cl.l273--30) wall `fro'rnia point` directly infront thereof at any height will rebound onto the court.

. 2 i with therplane of the court. `For instance;V the `height of theabutmentwallshownlii'rFig.` `1 is the length of the line TU and the lengthof` the courtiis the distance from this "intersectonto the forward edge of the court ori the distanceiUV `in Fig. 1. i n i The basic relationshipof the. angle or inclination of the playingportion ofthei abutment wall and theiheightfof the -wall tothe length ofthe playingv surface of the court is shownmore or less diagrammaticallyiniFig. 3. Thisgure shows a-single abutment wall EF or `the `sections-115, 42 `and 43 of Figure 1 `when arranged in the `same plane. In FigpSthe-line EG represents the length `ofi' the tabletcourt `and the line `EF `the height of the `abutment uwall. Knowing theheight of the abutment wall `and thelength of the table the'problexn is to determine `at -what angle the abutment :wallmust be arranged in order-to insure a vball `propelled height andinclination of the abutment `wall to the length of `the court;

VFigure 4 is a-view` similar to Figure 3 but showing amodied fOr-m of court.

" Infthe form ofinvention shown diagrammat- Lica-'lly in Fig. 1, the apparatus consists of a court having a playing surface, free ofbobstructions,

andan abutment wall having a playing `portion arranged at an acute angle tothe playing surface of the court. ln `the form of apparatus shown in Fig. l, the court is formed on the `upper surfaceof a table I6, the abutment wall 'in this gure'beingfmade up of three horizontally-divided panels lll, 4'2 and 43 disposed at l gradually decreasing angular relation to the court playng surface mythe relation or the angle of inclination of each Such panel or playing Aportion Aof the abutment wall and therheight thereof"` to the length of the playing surface of the court is suclrthat a ball struckrrom in front fof the abutment wall against said inclined portion of` theabutment wall will `rebound there- "from onto the table court.

vrlrhe height of the abutment wall will be considered to be the distance from the uppermost ledge of the abutment wall to the plane of the court measured along a line in'the plane of the uppermost playing surface to its intersection against the wall from a point at the playerslend of the court, directly in front of the `abutnlent wall, to rebound` onto the court. Itisrevident that a ball projected from. the extreme forward edge of the court at-G `and striking the upper i edge F of the abutment vwallwill reboundalong the .sameline'FG only if the angle at Fis a right angleand that any ball from Gstriking .the rabutmentiwall below F will then` reboundxonto the court, also any` ball .struck `from a i; point above. G and striking the .abutment wallwill. rebound` onto the court if the anglerEFG is :a `right angle. The angle FEiG is such thatitlwecon- `Sider a `ball struclrat-the forwardedgebf the `table as atrG vand striking `the wall at its extreme upper end as at F and rebounding `onto the court at `G, the line FG isi ata right angle to the line EF and the triangle EFG is,` there-- or from the table of natural functions angle E is equal to 44,. From: this 'formula it` is `seen that the height EF Iof the abutment will Vary as the co-sine of the` angle E and that thelength of the table EG will vary inversely yas the co-sine of the angle E. Y

In actual practice `it-is so seldom thatthefball is struck in sucha `way thatitmoves along the line'FG` justV missing the end of `the-table atV G vpo'rtingflegs |33 and |39.

and perpendicular to the playing surface of the abutment wall at F that the point of origin or the height at which the ball may be considered as being struck may be a few inches above the playing end of the court. This will permit the angle E to be a little less acute than that shown in Fig. 3. In like manner, the angle at which the middle panel section 42, of Figure 1, should be set may be determined by extending the plane of the secti-on or panel 42 until it intersects the -court or the plane thereof as at X. Then consider the distance from X to the upper edge of the section 42 as the height of the abutment wall of legs 24a, each composed oi two bars |28 and |29 hinged to the under side of the table as at |31 and |32, respectively. These bars cross each other and are provided with slots |33 and i3d extending across each other longitudinally of the bars, and a bolt |35 holds the parts in adjusted position. By spreading the lower ends o the bars apart, the overall height of the corresponding leg 2li@ will be reduced and vice Versa. This adjusting means permits the court to be used either in a substantially level position or at a slightly inclined angle toward the player end of the court, as desired.

In Figure 2 is disclosed -a modified form of anV apparatus shown more or less diagrammatically. In this form of invention, the table |31 may be like that shown in Figure l with adjustable sup- For simplicity of illustration, they are shown in dotted 'lines yas ,being crossed. The front legs E38 may, `if desired, ybe so adjusted that they are sh-orter than the rear legs |39, so that the table |31? slants downwardly toward the front or players end of the court.

The top of the tableV constitutes va table lcourty the court and inclined upwardly and forwardly` therefrom.

Attached to the louter side edges of the panels |42 and |43 and extending forwardly and laterally in diverging relationship thereto are side walls or wings Mii and hib. These side walls function to prevent a struck or rebounded ball from leaving the court laterally before 'it reaches the player end of the court, and to afford increased diversity of play by directing the ball against a side wall before it strikes the end abutment Wall or panels.

A front wall MS may extend downwardly from the forward end ofv the court or table for pre- Venting a struck ball from going beneath the table. The extreme corners of the table may be rounded as at |41', if desired. Extending forwardly from the wall lliii at floor level is what for convenience may be termed a floor court with suitable boundary markers iliii, which court may be used if desired under rules permitting a rebound on the floor.

It will be understood that the height and angular relationship of eachv lof the two panels m2 and |43, with respect to the length of the table court of Figure 2, is substantially the same aS previously described in connection with the forms of apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 3. In other words, each of said panels is so disposed that a plane lintersecting its upper edge at right angles to said panel will not pass substantially above the edge of the court at the player end at any point.

For example, the line FG in Figure 2 represents a line drawn along the aforesaid right-'angled plane 4and normal to the outer edge of panel |43 where the distance is shortest t-o the player edge of the court. As will be observed in this figure, line FG intersects the outer edge of the court in the same manner -as line FG in Figure 3.

vDue to .this angular relationship oi both the l more closelyV 'to the lateral limits of the court at 'the players end, and greatly enhance the diversity of shots available to the players while keep-ing the ball in play.

From experience, I find that the most satisfactory results are obtained by arranging the panel sections |42 and |43 at an angle of approximately 169 to each other.

The game yapparatus labove described is particularly adapted for playing :a game somewhat similar to table tennis but a court of approximately one-half the length lof a table tennis court is required. In play, two opponents strike the ball alternately against the abutment wall from the same player position end of the court. In general, the rules may be somewhat similar to those used in table tennis, although of course variations are permissible. The gam-e apparatus therefore requires much less floor space than table tennis tor ordinary play.

It will be especially lobserved that, owing to the novel relationship between the height and angularity of the abutment `wall with respect to the playing surface of lthe ycourt area, a ball which is fairly struck against the playing area on the abutment wall will be deected downwardly upon rebound toward the lplane of the court before it reaches the player edge of the court. Acc-ordingly, the game can be played with many m-ore extended, uninterrupted rallies than in table tennis, and with less time and eifort required for retrieving the ball between rallies.

In the form of apparatus shown in Figure 2, the horizontal angle at which the abutment panels |42 and |43 are disposed to each lother also insures that, .when a ball 'is hit straight up one side of the court and strikes 'one of the panels on that side, it will tend to rebound obliquely toward the other side of the court and, when a ball is hit diagonally to a panel on the other side,

it will tend t-o rebound straight down the other side 'of the table. Thus, each of the two players can stand toward his own s'ide of the end -of the table and the ball will rebound toward the other player regardless of what part of the abutment wall it strikes. This tends to keep the two players apart and prevent interference between them as the game proceeds.

In order to add complexity to the game and insure greater diversity in playing the same, the court may have on its playing area throughout its length, one or more inclined playing surfaces that are arranged at an angle to the surface of the main playing area.

One such arrangement is shown in Fig. 4. yIn this ligure, the 4court |55 and abutment wall |53 are shown more or less diagrammatically. The court playing area is shown at |54 4and has a playing surface |56 on its forward portion which inclines slightly upwardly toward the players end of the court. The inclined surface may be of dii'erent forms and inclined in various directions. It will thus be seen that a ball rebounding from the abutment wall |53 and striking the inclined surface |56 of the court will have imparted to 'it a modified rebound that will tend to baille the opponent player and his bewilderment will more than likely be further increased if the modified portion of the court be inclined laterally or both laterally and 'longitudinally `of the court.

In this construction as well asin the forms previously described, the relation of the height and inclination of said abutment wall to the length of said court -is 4such that a ball struck from dithe court and striking said wall at any height will rebound downwardly ont-o said court below the.`

incident path of the struck ball.

It will be `observed by reference to Figures 2 and 3 that the basi-c right angle relationship of the angle EFG in these gures applies to all lines extending in a pl-ane intersecting the upper horiz'ontal b-oundary of the playing area or areas which constitutes the upr'ight abutm-ent wall in all florms of the apparatus. Accordingly, the relation between the height and 'inclination of the v abutment wall relative to the length of the lcourt can be defined by stating that Ia plane intersecting the plane of the playing area substantially along its upper edge and also intersecting the forward edge of the court at its player position end is substantially at right angles to said playing area.

This is a lcontinuation in part of my application Serial Number 443,847, led May 21, 1942, flor Game, now abandoned.

Although I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but that various changes and `modications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a bouncing ball game apparatus, an elongated table providing an unobstructed playing surface and having the forward end thereof as a player position end, an abutment wall iixed to and projecting upwardly from the opposite end of said table and having a plane unobstructed ball rebounding surface inclined at an acute angle to the plane of an adjacent portion of said table, the relative length of said table and height of said abutment wall being such that a line extending from the player position end of the table to the upper edge of the abutment wall is nor mal to the adjacent plane portion thereof, whereby a ball impinging the abutment wall will always rebound to a position within the area of the table, said abutment wall also including another plane rebounding surface at an angle to said irst plane surface and being so disposed relative to the table that a line extending from the uppr edge thereof and normal thereto will also contact the forward player position end of the table. Y

2. In a bouncing ball game apparatus, an elongated table providing an unobstructed playing surface and having the forward end thereof as a player position end, an abutment wall ixed to and projecting upwardly from the opposite end of said table and having a plane unobstructed ball rebounding surface inclined at an acute angle to the plane of an adjacent portion of said table, the relative length of said table and height of said abutment wall being such that a line extending irom the player position end of the table to the upper edge of the abutment wall is normal to the adjacent plane portion thereof, whereby a ball impinging the abutment wall. will always rebound to a position within the area of the table, said table including a forward plane portion at an angle to and extending upwardly from said adjacent portion and whose forward edge provides said player position end of the table.

3. In a bouncing ball game apparatus, an elongated table providing an unobstructed playing surface and having the forward end thereof as a player position end, an abutmentwall fixed to and projecting upwardly from the opposite end of said table and having a plane unobstructed ball rebounding surface inclined at an acute angle to the plane of an adjacent portion of said table, the relative length of said table and height of said abutment wall being such that a line extending from the player position end of the table to the upper edge of the abutment wall is normal to the adjacent plane portion thereof, whereby a ball impingng the abutment wall will always rebound to a position within the area o-f the table, said abutment wall comprising a pair of wall sections in angular relation to each other and being disposed at equal acute-angles to a vertical plane extending through the central longitudinal axis of the table, and deflecting Walls projecting upwardly from opposite sides of the table and having their rear ends connected to the outer edges of said wall sections.

GEORGE H. FORSYTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 565,339 Ernest Aug, 4, 1896 2,045,460 Goewey June 23, 1936 2,066,724 Forsyth Jan. 5, 1937 2,067,071 Browne Jan.A 5, 1937 2,161,463 Frost June 6, 1939 2,162,438 Letarte June 13, 1939 2,174,884 Kachel Oct. 3, 1939 2,247,657 Girden July 1, 1941 2,333,098 Forsyth Nov. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 179,794 Great Britain May 18, 1922 473,665 Great Britain Oct. 18, 1937 533,809 France Dec. 20, 1921 

